Seventh Avenue, formerly known as the First Ward, is a neighborhood in the city of Newark in Essex County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States. Settled by Italian immigrants beginning in 1870, the First Ward was once known as Newark's Little Italy. In its heyday, Seventh Avenue had a population of 30,000, including 11,000 children, in an area of less than a square mile. The center of life in the neighborhood was St. Lucy's Church, founded by Italian immigrants in 1891. Throughout the year, St. Lucy's and other churches sponsored processions in honor of saints that became community events. The most famous procession is the Feast of St. Gerard.

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

loved the restaurants of Seventh Avenue so much that he would take the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

to Newark to show them "real Italian food." Frank Sinatra had bread from Giordano's Bakery sent to him every week until his death, no matter where in the world he was. Gerard Shrine Newark SE jeh

One of the nation's largest Italian newspapers, ''The Italian Tribune,'' was founded on Seventh Avenue. Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons and Congressman Peter Rodino, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee during its impeachment proceedings against

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, were natives of the First Ward. Beginning in 1953, the working class and poor Italian-American Seventh Avenue neighborhood was subjected to

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

efforts. Eighth Avenue was removed, scattering its Italian-American residents to make way for the construction of the Christopher Columbus Homes housing project and Interstate 280. The area experienced one of the highest crime rates in the city during the 1970s and was affected by arson fires. The neighborhood was largely rebuilt by the erection of townhouses, although the Italian community and most of its businesses never recovered.Immerso (2004), pp. 140–41. The last of the Christopher Columbus Homes was demolished in 1996.

References

{{Coord, 40, 45, 07, N, 74, 10, 23, W, format=dms, display=title, type:city_region:US-NJ Italian-American culture in New Jersey Neighborhoods in Newark, New Jersey Little Italys in the United States Populated places in Essex County, New Jersey